Scumbag A's Plan to Save the Heroine - Chapter 48

Ruan Ye’s heart churned with unease, but her remaining rationality compelled her to return to school, sign a sick leave form, and request leave for the following day.

Throughout the journey home, Ruan Ye maintained a blank expression. Only the moment she closed the door behind her did the full weight of her exhaustion crush her.

Leaning against the door, she slowly sank to the floor.

She closed her eyes, wanting to rest, but her mind was flooded with Zhi Qiu’s cold and peculiar behavior from the night before.

Was she overthinking things?

She couldn’t understand why Zhi Qiu had acted that way.

She had a nagging feeling that something was off about everything.

The next day, the culprit behind Ruan Ye’s self-doubt arrived.

A knock sounded at her door. When she opened it, Zhi Qiu stood there.

An uninvited guest.

Ruan Ye coldly blocked the open door, her gaze boldly scrutinizing the disheveled Alpha before her. Zhi Qiu still wore the same wrinkled clothes from the previous night, her usually neat attire now crumpled. Her pale face was framed by dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn’t slept all night.

“Say what you need to say from outside,” Ruan Ye said, her tone icy.

The Alpha, who had been staring at the ground, silently raised her eyes as if expecting this response.

The words spilled out as if rehearsed: “I’m sorry, Ruan Ye. You know my family has always wanted me to marry into another family. I have to keep pretending to be a playboy to dissuade my father from arranging a marriage for me. There was an informant my father planted at the party last night. I shouldn’t have fought with you. I… I’m sorry. I was just so afraid of dragging you into my mess.”

“Ruan Ye, please forgive me, okay?” Ruan Ye crossed her arms defensively, but Zhi Qiu pressed close, burying her face against the woman standing before her, who was both guarding herself and being guarded.

After a moment, Zhi Qiu loosened her grip on Ruan Ye, gently stroking the woman’s left cheek. She clenched her jaw, forcing a few tears to spill from her eyes, unaware of how violently her hand was trembling.

The Omega’s fair skin, flushed with a faint pink from just waking up, made Zhi Qiu’s throat tighten. Her gaze politely avoided the exposed hint of spring scenery.

Ruan Ye remained silent. After a moment, she relaxed her defensive posture and took a step back.

Last night, she had sensed something was off, but couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.

Now she finally understood the source of that unease.

She had definitely heard these exact words somewhere before.

It felt like a play she had rehearsed countless times.

She must have experienced these events before.

“I’m sorry!” Ruan Ye shook her head, silently backing away to quickly put distance between herself and the person in front of her.

Her calm tone carried a hint of panic. “Please… please let me calm down first.”

Ruan Ye slammed the door shut as if fleeing. In that fleeting moment, Zhi Qiu’s usually composed face flashed with a flicker of surprise.

Though the surprise vanished in an instant, Ruan Ye had keenly noticed it.

Zhi Qiu froze for a moment, her mouth slightly agape. Only after the door slammed shut with a bang did she quietly suppress a line unrelated to the script: “Then… get some rest.”

Feeling puzzled, Zhi Qiu turned to descend the stairs, muttering to herself, “Why is the female lead acting differently from the script…? Today is truly strange.”

Inside the room, Ruan Ye sprinted back to her bedroom and locked the door.

Despite the sweltering summer heat, her body felt ice-cold, trembling uncontrollably with terror. Her hand, clutching the pen, shook so violently that she couldn’t write a single word for ages.

Gritting her teeth, Ruan Ye pinched the inner flesh of her thigh hard, until the fair skin turned blue, then gradually faded into a purplish bruise. Only then did she take a deep breath, her mind slowly regaining its composure.

This was all too bizarre.

Fu Jin Yan, who valued power above all else and was determined to inherit the family business, had suddenly begun pursuing her.

Classmates who had previously kept their distance were now inexplicably filled with malice toward her.

Zhi Qiu, who had always been known as a carefree and flirtatious Alpha, had suddenly withdrawn from her usual crowd of Omegas to help Ruan Ye resolve all her difficulties.

It was all too strange.

Ruan Ye tightened her grip on the pen, slowly exhaling the breath she had been holding. Finally, she made her first stroke.

She needed to record everything that had happened. There must be details she had overlooked. The truth would eventually surface.

By midnight, Ruan Ye had stopped writing.

She had filled six pages with notes about the events of today and yesterday.

The paper was covered in dense black ink, meticulously documenting all the characters whose behavior had changed. She organized them into a relationship map centered around herself, analyzing her connections to each person and their relationships with one another.

Ruan Ye hesitated to put down the pen, feeling she had forgotten something crucial.

She pressed her left hand against her head, desperately trying to recall every detail of the recent events, unwilling to overlook even the slightest detail.

Ten minutes passed.

Thirty minutes passed.

An hour passed.

Two hours…

The clock’s hands ticked relentlessly, and Ruan Ye felt her mind growing rusty.

She sighed, chiding herself for her recent anxiety. With her photographic memory, she usually had to consciously avoid memorizing trivial details to prevent her mind from being cluttered with irrelevant information. Given the bizarre events of the past few days, how could she possibly forget anything important?

Ruan Ye exhaled in relief, unlocked her bedroom door, and headed to the kitchen. She opened a cabinet, retrieved the coffee maker, and placed it directly in front of her. She planned to brew a cup now for easy enjoyment tomorrow morning.

She tore open the bag of coffee beans, scooped out a handful, and expertly ground them. Then, she placed the grounds in the coffee maker’s filter.

The enticing aroma of coffee gradually filled the small kitchen. Ruan Ye picked up a glass with her right hand. Her hand, accustomed to long hours of writing, felt slightly sore, but still steady enough to hold a glass of liquid.

She leaned in to savor the coffee’s bitter, refreshing aroma, then lowered her lips to take a sip before putting it in the refrigerator.

Suddenly, a heavy scraping sound echoed from the floor above.

It was already past midnight.

Startled by the sudden noise, Ruan Ye frowned, her expression tinged with impatience at being interrupted before she could enjoy her coffee.

I’ll just have it tomorrow morning, she thought.

The refrigerator’s dim, yellowish light illuminated the freezer compartment, which was perpetually set to around 3 degrees Celsius. Ruan Ye opened the door and placed the prepared coffee inside.

As she set the cup down, her peripheral vision caught sight of an unfamiliar object. Her hand, still holding the coffee cup, trembled.

In that instant, the glass cup slipped from her grasp and shattered on the floor.

The shards of glass glittered colorfully under the dim, yellowish light.

Ruan Ye stared silently at the coffee machine she had just used, her face pale and wordless.

Because she had never bought a coffee machine in the first place.